ISU hikes tuition about 9 percent

Friday

May 11, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 11, 2007 at 11:21 AM

Similar raises expected for room rates and meals

FITZGERALD M. DOUBET

Incoming students at Illinois State University will pay about 9 percent more in tuition beginning next fall, with rates for room and board at the Normal campus about to experience similar hikes.Board members at ISU passed a resolution Friday morning that increases tuition rates for new, full-time undergraduates from $205 to $224 per credit hour for in-state students and from $428 to $468 for out-of-state undergrads. The university guaranteed rates will not increase for at least four years.

Included in the tuition hike is a $9 per credit hour increase - also to be administered only to new and future students - that will fund an assessment of the university's facilities, technology and infrastructure, ISU spokesman Jay Groves said.

New students additionally will pay $56.91 per credit hour in student fees, a $4.46 increase from the current school year.

The tuition hike and fees amount to an annual estimated increase in cost of $947 for undergraduates from Illinois, according to figures provided by the university.

Undergrads taking a full load of 15 credit hours per semester will be charged $8,987 yearly - a figure that includes tuition and general student fees, but not room and board. Last year's incoming freshman paid approximately $8,040 for a year of the same services.

But board members on Friday also raised residence hall rates by 9.2 percent and dining rates by 11.5 percent, translating to still higher costs for incoming students who will live in residence halls.

Room rates will range from $3,546 for a multiple occupancy room to $6,062 for a super-single suite, with intermediate rates available at various campus housing facilities. Meal plans will range from $3,288 to $4,026.

The room and board rates are not bound by the same four-year guarantee accorded to tuition, Groves said.

Board members on Friday also approved an increase in graduate student tuition rates - by $9 per credit hour for in-state residents and $18 per credit hour for out-of-state students - and a new graduate study program.

The Ph.D. in Nursing degree program, to be offered through the Mennonite College of Nursing, is intended to address the shortage of nurses in the nation today and prepare nurses to conduct research or pursue a research-related career.

Undergraduates also have a new option. Approved Friday was a new bachelor's degree program focused on renewable energy that will be administered through the university's Department of Technology.

Students will be able to choose from two specialties: technology, which would prepare students for manufacturing jobs in ethanol plants or maintenance and operations jobs at wind farms; or economics and public policy, which is more geared for the business side of the operations and legislative initiatives.